Colours hangman words
84 colours words, each with a clue and a difficulty score computed from its spelling. 40 easy, 37 medium, 7 hard.
Average score
3.7
Across all 84 words
Hardest
plum
Scores 11.0
Easiest
rose
Scores -1.0
Colour names are borrowed from everywhere: minerals, flowers, wines, animals and places. Chartreuse, vermilion and periwinkle all keep the spelling of wherever they came from, which is why this list is harder than it sounds.
That makes it a good category for a wide age range. The basic shades are easy enough for a child and the pigment names are genuinely difficult for an adult, so one list serves both ends of the table.
Beware the ones that are also objects. Salmon, peach, jade and rust are colours here, and a guesser who has worked out the category will still argue about it.
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Easy colours words40
The usual opening guesses cover most of it, so it tends to fall quickly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| alabaster | Pure pale white, from the stone | 9 / 7 distinct | 1.0 | Easy |
| apricot | Slightly deeper than peach | 7 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| aquamarine | Pale blue-green, and another stone | 10 / 8 distinct | 1.4 | Easy |
| aubergine | Very dark purple | 9 / 8 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| auburn | Red-brown hair | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| azure | The blue of a clear sky | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| beige | The colour of not making a decision | 5 / 4 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| brass | Yellower than bronze | 5 / 4 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| cerise | A deep, cold pink | 6 / 5 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| cerulean | A lighter, greener blue | 8 / 7 distinct | 2.4 | Easy |
| chartreuse | Yellow-green, named after a liqueur | 10 / 8 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| crimson | Deep red, with a hint of blue in it | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| emerald | Rich green, and yet another stone | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| fern | Slightly brighter and cooler | 4 / 4 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| forest | Deep green | 6 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| ginger | Orange hair | 6 / 5 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| heliotrope | Bright purple, from a flower | 10 / 8 distinct | 1.4 | Easy |
| indigo | Between blue and violet, and a dye | 6 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| magenta | Between red and purple, and one of the printing inks | 7 / 6 distinct | 2.0 | Easy |
| maroon | Brownish red, and also to be stranded | 6 / 5 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| mint | Very pale green | 4 / 4 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| moss | Soft, dull green | 4 / 3 distinct | 2.8 | Easy |
| olive | Dull yellow-green, and a fruit | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.4 | Easy |
| palette | The set somebody chose | 7 / 5 distinct | 1.6 | Easy |
| rose | Pink, with the flower in mind | 4 / 4 distinct | -1.0 | Easy |
| rust | What iron turns when neglected | 4 / 4 distinct | 3.5 | Easy |
| saffron | Deep yellow-orange, from a spice | 7 / 6 distinct | 3.1 | Easy |
| sage | Grey-green, from the herb | 4 / 4 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| saturation | How intense the colour is | 10 / 8 distinct | -0.6 | Easy |
| scarlet | Bright red, and a pimpernel | 7 / 7 distinct | 3.6 | Easy |
| seafoam | Very pale green-blue | 7 / 6 distinct | 0.9 | Easy |
| sepia | Brown, and the colour of old photographs | 5 / 5 distinct | 0.2 | Easy |
| slate | Blue-grey, from the rock | 5 / 5 distinct | 1.8 | Easy |
| tangerine | Bright orange | 9 / 7 distinct | -0.1 | Easy |
| taupe | Grey-brown, named after a mole | 5 / 5 distinct | 2.2 | Easy |
| teal | Deeper than turquoise, named after a duck | 4 / 4 distinct | 1.5 | Easy |
| tint | The colour with white added | 4 / 3 distinct | 0.3 | Easy |
| turquoise | Between blue and green, and a stone | 9 / 8 distinct | 2.3 | Easy |
| vermilion | Bright orange-red from a mineral pigment | 9 / 8 distinct | 3.2 | Easy |
| violet | The last colour in the rainbow | 6 / 6 distinct | 3.3 | Easy |
Medium colours words37
You will get a foothold, then have to work out the rest properly.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| amber | Orange-yellow, and fossilised resin | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| bronze | Metallic brown, and third place | 6 / 6 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| charcoal | Very dark grey | 8 / 6 distinct | 4.3 | Medium |
| chestnut | Red-brown, and a horse colour | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.4 | Medium |
| cobalt | Intense blue, from a metal | 6 / 6 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| copper | Metallic orange-brown | 6 / 5 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| coral | Pink-orange, from the reef | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| cornflower | A brighter blue, from the flower | 10 / 8 distinct | 4.8 | Medium |
| cream | Off-white with warmth in it | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| ebony | Black, from the wood | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| fuchsia | Vivid pink-purple, named after a flower | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.3 | Medium |
| graphite | Dark grey, from the pencil | 8 / 8 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| hue | Which colour it actually is | 3 / 3 distinct | 4.3 | Medium |
| hunter | Dark green with grey in it | 6 / 6 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| ivory | Off-white with less | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| jade | Soft green, from the carving stone | 4 / 4 distinct | 5.5 | Medium |
| jet | Black, from another stone entirely | 3 / 3 distinct | 5.7 | Medium |
| lavender | Pale purple, and the smell of it | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.2 | Medium |
| lemon | Bright pale yellow | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| lilac | Slightly pinker than lavender | 5 / 4 distinct | 5.2 | Medium |
| lime | Sharp bright green | 4 / 4 distinct | 4.0 | Medium |
| mahogany | Rich red-brown wood | 8 / 7 distinct | 4.6 | Medium |
| mauve | Pale purple with grey in it | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.4 | Medium |
| mustard | Dull yellow, and a condiment | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| ochre | Yellow-brown pigment used since prehistory | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| peach | Soft orange-pink | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.8 | Medium |
| pearl | White with a sheen | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| periwinkle | Pale blue with violet in it | 10 / 8 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| pigment | The powder the colour comes from | 7 / 7 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| platinum | Very pale blond, or the metal | 8 / 8 distinct | 5.0 | Medium |
| royal | The bright, saturated blue | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| salmon | Pink-orange, from the fish | 6 / 6 distinct | 3.7 | Medium |
| shade | The colour with black added | 5 / 5 distinct | 3.8 | Medium |
| silver | Metallic grey | 6 / 6 distinct | 4.7 | Medium |
| spectrum | All of them, in order | 8 / 8 distinct | 6.0 | Medium |
| umber | Earth brown, raw or burnt | 5 / 5 distinct | 5.8 | Medium |
| walnut | Mid brown wood | 6 / 6 distinct | 6.3 | Medium |
Hard colours words7
Rare letters, few vowels, or almost no repetition for a guesser to lean on.
| Word | Clue | Letters | Score | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| blush | The palest pink | 5 / 5 distinct | 9.4 | Hard |
| burgundy | Dark red, named after the wine region | 8 / 7 distinct | 8.1 | Hard |
| gold | Metallic yellow, and first | 4 / 4 distinct | 8.5 | Hard |
| khaki | Dusty yellow-brown, from a Urdu word for dust | 5 / 4 distinct | 6.7 | Hard |
| navy | Very dark blue | 4 / 4 distinct | 7.5 | Hard |
| onyx | Black, from the stone | 4 / 4 distinct | 7.5 | Hard |
| plum | Dark purple-red | 4 / 4 distinct | 11.0 | Hard |
Questions
What are good colours words for hangman?
The ones that survive a normal opening. A guesser starts with E, A, R and the other common letters, so a good word is one those letters barely touch. On this page that is the score: 84 colours words are listed and 7 of them rate hard.
How many colours words are on this list?
84, deduplicated, each with a clue and a computed difficulty score. They split into 40 easy, 37 medium and 7 hard.
What is the hardest word in this category?
PLUM, at 11.0. The easiest is ROSE at -1.0. Both numbers come from the same formula, which is published in full at hangmanwords.net/how-difficulty-is-scored/.
Can I play these words rather than read them?
Yes. The play link on this page loads a game that draws only from this colours list, so every word you get is one of the 84 below.